


Duke Needs A Hug

by Miah_Arthur



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Crack, Gen, Trouble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 04:56:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3368642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miah_Arthur/pseuds/Miah_Arthur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hugs are good things, but in Haven even hugging can be Troubled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duke Needs A Hug

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Don't own Haven. Don't intend to make money off this.
> 
> Thanks to Roseveare for being my beta.
> 
> **Edited to tighten up wording. No substantial changes.**

 

 

# Duke Needs A Hug

 

**Day 1**

It was funny at first. 

Of course it was funny when grizzled old McAlistair, the local wackadoodle, wandered up to Duke and dragged him into a bear hug of epic proportions while Duke flailed and squirmed and threw 'Help me!' looks at Audrey and even Nathan. McAlistair finally put Duke back on his feet. Then he turned to Nathan, and before he could dodge the expected hug, planted both hands on Nathan's shoulders, stared right at him, and muttered something about Duke looking like he needed a hug before walking away.

Nathan had stood stock still for few seconds before he shook it off and stalked away. Everyone else present doing their level best to get a hug in before Duke escaped into his Land Rover was just people extending the joke. Right?

 

**Day 2**

Duke showed up at the station looking worse for wear. He had a crumpled bag containing what had once been pastries clutched in one hand and an empty coffee cup tray in the other. Heads around the bullpen turned toward him, and he darted for Nathan's office. He slammed the door behind him and locked it.

The expression he aimed at Nathan and Audrey was still funny although a little less than it had been. 

"You've got to help me. They won't stop hugging me!" he said. 

Parker chuckled. "It's kind of nice to get a hug sometimes."

Nathan grinned. "This must be a Trouble. Parker, we'd better check everyone else out, they're all deluded."

"This isn't cool! I can't walk down the street!" He brandished the bag of crushed pastries. 

"Well, I don't have an urge to hug you," Nathan said flatly. That urge to go over there and wrap his arms around Duke wasn't real, right?

"No wait, Nathan. This is serious." Duke looked relieved, but Parker continued. "These are pastry killing hugs. We may have to investigate."

Duke threw his arms up in disgust and stomped out of the office.

The rest of the day, a nagging sensation tickled at the back of Nathan's brain like he was forgetting something important.

 

**Day 3**

Audrey and Nathan were busy all day with a Trouble that caused swarms of cockroaches and it wasn't until after she pulled up at the Gull late that night that she realized it was one of the few places the swarms hadn't hit. A wave of tired guilt washed over her for not thinking about Duke's hugging issue. But really, it was hugging. How dangerous could it be?

She started to go talk to him, but tiny creepy-crawly feet scratched up her leg. She dashed up the stairs to get a shower and stuff her clothes into a sack to be burned. Duke wouldn't mind a bonfire in his parking lot if kept the Gull from getting infested, right?

 

**Day 4**

Nathan pulled up to the marina. The urge to see Duke was oddly insistent. Even if seeing Duke flail over everyone hugging him was funny, he knew Troubles often got out of hand left unchecked. A bit of teasing while they verified it was McAlistair's Trouble causing this and how to stop it, was just a bonus.

Duke looked frustrated and tired when he let Nathan through the door. He grumbled out, "So, you here to hug me, too?" 

Nathan floundered. He took an unwilling step forward before shaking his head. 

"No?" Duke huffed and stalked off to the far end of the room muttering, "No, of course you wouldn't."

Parker called before Nathan could respond to that. This wasn't nearly as funny as Nathan had supposed. He ignored Duke's frantic pantomimed 'NO!' and agreed to bringing Duke to the station. Parker would pick up McAlistair, and they'd deal with this once and for all.

An hour later, when they were surrounded by a mob, he wished he hadn't dragged Duke off the boat. The badge and gun helped, and Duke was fast when he put his mind to it. 

They barely made it into the station ahead of the masses and found the officers immediately formed their own masses. Nathan got Duke shoved into a cell and the door locked, but stepping back wasn't an option with the crowd pressed against him the bars trying to get to Duke.

"It's not so funny now, huh?" Duke said. He huddled on the far end of the bed, arms wrapped around his ribs, looking miserable. 

Nathan didn't want to hug Duke, but an incredible pressure building in his brain had him trying to get the keys in the lock. The spark of fear in Duke's eyes as he deftly snagged the keys and backed away before Nathan grabbed him washed over Nathan like he'd been doused in cold water. He wrenched himself away from staring at Duke and tried to push the crowd back.

 

**Day 5**

Parker dispelled the crowd. Barely. They'd found that her escorting people out of Duke's presence did the trick. If they didn't see him, they didn't have the compulsion to give him a rib cracking hug. He claimed that might be literal and the way he moved, Nathan was inclined to believe him. It helped smother the urge to go wrap his arms around Duke, so tight he couldn't escape. 

A lead on McAlistair's whereabouts finally came in and Nathan went to get him. Parker couldn't risk leaving Duke alone for too long. It had been an act of will that kept him from digging out an extra set of keys. The mob was reforming outside the cells.

This really wasn't funny anymore.

Nathan found McAlistair wandering in an alley downtown. The man smiled at him and cheerfully agreed to accompany Nathan. Back at the station, the crowd was getting ugly. They shoved their way past. 

McAlistair shouted, "This wasn't supposed to happen!" and fixed Nathan with a very puzzled look.

Duke surged toward the bars when they walked in. "You! Fix this, now!"

McAlistair shook his head. "This never happened before. I give someone a hug and encourage someone that cares, they hug, and that's it."

Duke plopped onto the bed, then winced and tucked one arm against his ribs. "I'm doomed," he moaned.

McAlistair looked sharply between Duke and Nathan. "Really?" 

Parker said, "Oh come on! Nathan hugs Duke once and this is finished?"

The feeling that had been niggling Nathan's mind for days, vaulted to the forefront. He needed to give Duke a hug. "Yeah, I can do that. Put an end to this noise."

Duke shook his head. 

Nathan grabbed the bars angrily. "What? You'd rather be stuck in there than me hug you?"

Duke prowled over, keeping just out of Nathan's reach. "Maybe I don't want your pity!"

McAlistair looked sad. He clamped a hand around Nathan's wrist, then leaned through the bars and grabbed Duke's arm. Duke stiffened and cried out. Nathan didn't react. McAlistair released them and Duke stumbled back to the bed again. 

"What the hell did you do?" Nathan demanded. 

"I turned it off," McAlistair looked at Duke who was still on the bed looking stunned, and his voice shifted higher. "He should be fine."

Duke swallowed hard and waved off the concern. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good."

The noise from the crowd outside dissipated to words of surprise and drifted away. 

Parker beamed concern at the two of them, "What about you, Nathan?"

"Didn't feel a thing," he deadpanned. That earned him eye rolls.

McAlistair apologized profusely and wandered off to whatever it was he did. 

They ran a couple of trials with Duke fidgeting, but standing his ground in front of the cells and the officers not showing the least inclination to throw their arms around him. Duke made a sarcastic comment whenever he caught someone looking at him with concern and slipped out of the station as soon as they were pretty sure it was safe. Nathan and Audrey let him go.

 

**Day 6**

Nathan knocked on the door of the Cape Rouge. A six pack of beer sat on the deck near his feet. Duke opened the door, but stood blocking the opening.

Nathan moved before Duke could react. He wrapped both arms around Duke, pulling him snugly, but not too tight, keeping in mind that Duke's ribs might be still sore.

Duke groaned, but didn't fight. "It didn't work."

"It worked. I wanted you to know that offer was never pity. You weren't doomed."

"How many of those did you drink? Do I need to administer a field sobriety test?"

"Shut up and take the hug."

Duke's arms snaked up and Nathan heard Duke's hands patting him on the back. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

They stood there for a few more seconds before Duke said, "Starting to get weird, Nate."

Nathan released him and motioned toward the six pack. "Do you want to play cards?"

A smile played across Duke's lips and he stepped back, letting Nathan in. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on the next story in my AU series, in which Duke needs a hug so badly that an entire fic of Duke getting hugs popped into my head. [This](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/roseveare/716494/846348/846348_original.png) picture by Roseveare, and [ this story](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3309572/chapters/7229804) by Rabbitt helped put it on my mind, too.


End file.
